Washington Spirit’s Mallory Pugh (11) moves the ball deftly towards the goal with Orlando Pride’s Ali Krieger (11) right behind her trying to end the run. PHOTO BY DAVID WOLFE In a startling outcome, the Washington Spirit (1-1-0) outplayed the Orlando Pride (0-1-1) this past Saturday in a 2-0 win over the visiting Orlando team. Playing in front of 4,989 spectators, the Spirit played a back-and-forth match of relatively even moves with the Pride until the 80th minute.The Pride, failing to mark U.S. international player Mallory Pugh as tightly as they had earlier in the match, opened a canyon of space for Pugh. Pugh, with possession of the ball off a pass from Ashely Hatch, did what she usually does: maneuver the ball faster and better than everyone else on the pitch.Pugh outran the Pride’s Alex Krieger, who was closing in from behind. She outpaced,Canadian international player Shelina Zadorsky, the Pride’s center back defender, who ran parallel to Pugh but unable to get close enough. At the last moment of open space between her and the net, she lit off a shot that nutmegged keeper Ashlyn Harris and stopped in the back of the net. She scored the first goal of the match in the 80th minute. The Spirit were ahead 1-0 over the Pride.

Saturday night Aug. 8 at at Soldier Field in Boston in front of a sold-out crowd, the Washington Spirit were down 2-0 by the 18th minute. The Boston Breakers were on their way to breaking their losing streak. The Breakers came into the game having lost nine games in a row.

The Washington Spirit maintained their undefeated home pitch record Saturday night against the then league leader Seattle Reign FC that was coming off a streak of eight wins. Washington Spirit players held the Reign to zero, a clean sheet for keeper Kelsey Wys. Losing this game moved the Reign from first to second place in the league standings, one point behind the leader. Winning added three points to the Spirit’s league total moving them into third place. They trail the Chicago Red Stars the current league leader by only two points. A win this coming Saturday against the Chicago Red Stars could put the Spirit in first place.

The talk around the office this past Monday was all about the US Women’s National Soccer Team. Did you see that game on TV? USA vs. Japan: The US Women dominated the game with a final score of 5 - 2. Aside from a USA “own” goal, Japan would have been limited to a single goal.

Ashlyn Harris was just another hyper kid around the age of 5 when she first started playing soccer in a small town in Satellite Beach, Fla. She didn’t know then that one day she would realize her dream of being a professional soccer player.